this post was submitted on 01 Jul 2026
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No Stupid Questions

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On one hand, it would obviously attract lightning, being a tall-ish conducter it would attract it, but cars and the like are said to be (relatively) safe specifically because they direct lightning around you to the ground. I imagine it would be similar to that.

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[–] Nibodhika@lemmy.world 2 points 4 hours ago

You are reading one thing and interpreting another. Both me and that link told you height is more important. What that link is telling you is that a wood gazebo in the middle of nowhere will attract lightning the same way a metal gazebo of the same height in the middle of nowhere will, so you're not less safe in a metal gazebo than in a wooden one in isolation of one another. What I'm telling you is that if you put them side by side the metal one will be struck nearly 100% of the time.

The myth that it is trying to counter is that you having a metal ring/watch/etc on you will make you a target over a tree or something similar.

Lighting is not a magical thing, it's just electricity, but it's so much electricity that it can arc extreme distances and be conducted through things we consider non conductive. And here's the thing, air is a much better insulator than almost anything else, so height will be the determining factor most of the time because it will always be easier for the electricity to run through 10m of wood than 9m of metal and 1m of air, but between 10m of metal and 10m of wood it's a no contest.

This is why you can be electrocuted inside a wooden gazebo, the tall building will offer less resistance to the lighting, and of you're touching ground and a pillar you offer less resistance than the wood pillar. A metal gazebo is more conductive than you so it will create a Faraday cage, because the electricity will mostly prefer the metal. That is not to say you're 100% sure to be safe there, but that's where I would place my bet.